Charges filed in ex-Vegas prosecutor drug case

KEN RITTER, Associated Press

An ex-county prosecutor who handled the Paris Hilton and Bruno Mars celebrity cocaine cases in Las Vegas was hit Thursday with felony gun, drug and conspiracy charges stemming from his arrest with what police said was $40 worth of rock cocaine in a neighborhood east of the Las Vegas Strip.

Former Deputy Clark County District Attorney David Schubert didn't appear in Las Vegas Justice Court for a brief hearing during which his lawyer, William Terry, received a four-count criminal complaint. It added felony gun possession to the drug conspiracy, possession and use charges police sought following Schubert's March 19 arrest. Schubert was suspended shortly after his arrest and then resigned April 1.

The gun charge is the most serious. It stems from the discovery by police of an unlicensed Glock 9mm semi-automatic handgun and almost 100 rounds of ammunition in Schubert's car, authorities said. Police Officer Marcus Martin, a department spokesman, said Schubert's firearm permit lapsed in 2003.

Justice of the Peace Janiece Marshall set Schubert's arraignment for Oct. 13.

Schubert, 47, intends to plead not guilty, Terry said. Combined, the charges could get the former liaison to a federal drug task force more than a decade in prison.

Deputy Nevada state Attorney General Thom Gover is prosecuting the case because of Schubert's former position. He didn't contest Schubert's absence in court Thursday.

Schubert worked at the Clark County district attorney's office for 10 years. His arrest stunned colleagues and defense lawyers. Clark County District Attorney David Roger said, to him, it didn't make "a lick of sense."

Schubert had handled most of the office's top drug cases. He reached separate pretrial plea deals in September with Hilton after the celebrity heiress was arrested in August in a Las Vegas Strip traffic stop, and in February with Mars after the Grammy-winning pop singer was arrested in September in a casino restroom.

Hilton, 30, was sentenced to a year of probation on misdemeanor cocaine possession and obstruction charges after 0.8 grams of cocaine was found in her handbag.

Mars, 25, whose real name is Peter Hernandez, is serving a year of probation in a bid to clear his record of a felony cocaine possession conviction. He acknowledged having 2.6 grams of cocaine when he was arrested after a performance at a Hard Rock Hotel & Casino nightclub.

Police allege officers watched a man get in Schubert's car, accept money, go into an apartment complex and return with a substance later determined to be crack cocaine.

The man, identified as Raymond Streeter, 43, tried to run when police stopped Schubert's car, but was apprehended. Streeter isn't charged in the case.

He told police in a recorded interview that Schubert had been buying drugs in the neighborhood for six or seven months.